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London Buses route 152
London Buses route 152 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, England. Running between New Malden and Pollards Hill, it is operated by London General. History Route 152 originally commenced operation on 3 October 1934 from Mitcham Cricket Green to Kingston via Colliers Wood, South Wimbledon, Raynes Park, New Malden, Tolworth, Hook, and Surbiton. The route was initially operated by London Transport from their Merton (AL) garage using LT type double-deckers. On 27 May 1936, it was diverted at Hook to Hampton Court Station via Hinchley Wood. On 27 June 1951, it was extended from Hampton Court to Feltham station via Teddington, with Kingston Garage gaining an allocation in addition to the existing Merton (AL) Garage allocation. The route reverted to sole operation by Merton Garage from 9 May 1962. Notably, on 24 January 1970, the route was diverted at Scilly Isles to Esher in lieu of Feltham. From the same date, the service was converted from RT operation to One Person Operation using single-deck AEC Merlins. From 18 May 1974, the service reverted to double-deck operation using Daimler Fleetlines. From 27 September 1980, the route was diverted at Tolworth to Surbiton Station instead of Hampton Court, leaving the section of the route to Hampton Court unserved except for some school journeys renumbered 152A. Under the major service cuts of 4 September 1982, single-deck operation returned to the route using Leyland Nationals. The route was included in the first batch of London bus services to be put out to competitive tender under the provisions of the London Regional Transport Act 1984. The route was retained by London Buses with operation from Merton Garage, the contract commencing from 13 July 1985. On 27 June 1987, route 152 was withdrawn between Surbiton and New Malden, diverting instead via route 131 to Kingston. On 26 November 1988, operation transferred to Sutton (A) Garage as part of the 'Sutton Bus' local tender unit, but operation gradually moved back to Merton Garage. From 30 November 1991, with Merton Garage resuming full control from this date, the route was converted to single-deck midibus operation using Optare MetroRiders. This change was made in order to facilitate an extension of the route to Pollards Hill via Eastfields Estate, an area long-deprived of bus service and beyond the remit of larger vehicles due to road width restrictions, one of the factors in earlier proposals such as the re-routing of route 118 being shelved. On 30 November 1996, the route was converted to low floor operation using Plaxton Pointer bodied Dennis Dart SLFs. On 1 December 2001, the route passed to Mitcham Belle using Plaxton Pointer 2 bodied Dennis Dart SLFs on loan from Sovereign. In 2002, the Pointer 2 bodied Dennis Dart SLFs on loan from Sovereign were replaced by Caetano Nimbus bodied Dennis Dart SLFs. The route was included in the 27 August 2004 sale of Mitcham Belle's Transport for London bus contracts to Centra. On 22 April 2006, the route passed to Travel London operating from their Beddington Cross (BC) Garage. It was originally scheduled to commence on 2 December 2006, but following Centra ceasing to trade this was brought forward. East Lancs Spryte bodied Dennis Dart SLFs from route H50 and Plaxton Pointer 2 bodied Dennis Dart SLFs on loan from Stagecoach London were temporarily used. On 2 December 2006, the route was retained by Travel London with Alexander Dennis Enviro 200 Darts introduced. Route 152 was included in the 21 May 2009 sale of Travel London to Abellio London. On 3 December 2011, the route was retained by Abellio London using existing Plaxton Pointer 2 bodied Dennis Darts, 10.2m Alexander Dennis Enviro 200 Darts and brand new 10.8m Alexander Dennis Enviro 200 Darts. On 3 December 2016, the route passed to London General from their Merton (AL) garage using Alexander Dennis Enviro 200 Darts and Optare Esteem bodied Alexander Dennis Enviro 200 Darts. Current route Route 152 operates via these primary locations: *New Malden *Raynes Park Station *Wimbledon Chase Station *South Wimbledon Station *Colliers Wood Station *Mitcham Eastfields Station *Pollards Hill External links *London Bus Routes Gallery *Full Timetable (PDF) 152